22 The witness entered the Center for the first time in 1997. He was 14 at the time. The young man said that the Center was a “disaster.” When he entered the Center, no physician examined him; the entire time he was there, he was never convicted. He was able to see an attorney and was eventually released. In 1998 he was placed there again; there had been a theft in his neighborhood and he was blamed because he had a criminal record. That time, he was there for one year and had an attorney. Then, when he turned 20, he was moved to the Tacumbú Penitentiary. They have already given him his freedom three times, but an official has told him that he has three other cases pending, and so they have not yet release him. He was asleep when the February 11, 2000 fire broke out, and was badly burned. He spent a month in the hospital. On the day of the fire, some of the inmates were already dead by the time a guard opened the door. The firefighters came two hours after the fire broke out. One of his friends had been given his freedom on paper back in December 1999, but they had not yet released him. By now, he doesn’t want to think about the Center anymore. He asked the Court for his freedom and for justice for what happened at the Center. He also asked to be given a chance, as he has already spent time in a number of prisons. d) Testimony of Hugo Antonio Vera Quintana, former inmate at the Center The witness was 15 when he entered the Center for the first time. Later, as punishment, he was transferred to the Oviedo prison, where he was incarcerated with adult inmates. He doesn’t remember what year the fire happened or how long he spent in the hospital. Prison is a “terrible world.” His cell at the Center was very small and was always locked. He had no sheets, no soap and no toothpaste. The food was neither “bad nor good.” He had an attorney at the Center. He was an inmate at the Center, although he had never been convicted of any crime. There were teachers, but he had no desire to learn; he went to school but was never promoted to the next grade. The guards hit him and sent him to lock-up. The only thing he learned at the Center was “disorder and negative thinking.” He asked the Court for his freedom and a job, as it was difficult for him to get work now that he was a marked man. e) Testimony of Jorge Daniel Toledo, former inmate at the Center The witness was an inmate at the Center; he was never examined by either a physician or a dentist. It was not until sometime later that he was assisted by legal counsel. The Center was a “horror” and no place for children. The guards treated him well. While it is true that they say that they took inmates to the cellar to beat them with their batons, he can’t be certain because they never touched him. For two hours every day he was able to go into the patio. He also had visits and a mattress. The food was good. He smoked cigarettes and marijuana. The time he spent at the Center only made him worse than he had been before.